The Tudor Society

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  • 12 September – The newly married Earl of Argyll dies suddenly

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    1 Comment

    On this day in Tudor history, 12th September 1573, Protestant reformer, and leading politician in the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll, died suddenly at Barbreck. He had got married six weeks earlier and had shown no signs of illness before retiring to bed.

    Argyll was the third most important noble in Scotland, the most important highland chief, and a founder of the Lords of the Congregation. He went from opposing Mary, Queen of Scots, to leading her troops in battle.

    Why?

    Find out all about this interesting Scot’s life and career in today’s talk.

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  • 10 September – The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, Saturday 10th September 1547, in the reign of King Edward VI, the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, also known as the Battle of Pinkie, took place near Musselburgh, in Scotland, on the banks of the River Esk. The English forces, led by Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, defeated the Scots, killing thousands.

    It was a bloody battle, but started off well for the Scots. In today’s talk, I share an eye-witness account of how the battle changed so dramatically, leading to the loss of between 6,000 and 15,000 Scots.

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  • 5 September – The death of Bloody Bonner

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 5th September 1569, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London and a man nicknamed “Bloody Bonner”, died in Marshalsea Prison. He had started his career in Henry VIII’s reign and was not just a churchman, he was also a diplomat.

    In today’s talk, I flesh out this Tudor bishop who got his nickname from being in charge of burning reformers in London. Find out about his life, career and how he ended up dying in prison.

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  • 22 August – The end of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 22nd August 1553, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, was beheaded on Tower Hill for his part in putting his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, on the throne. Northumberland’s friends and supporters, Sir John Gates and Sir Thomas Palmer, were also executed.

    Northumberland was actually scheduled to die the previous day and the crowd turned up to see, the scaffold was prepared and even the executioner was ready… but, instead, the duke was taken to church.

    Why?

    Find out why and also hear a contemporary account of the duke’s execution in today’s talk.

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  • 16 July – The death of Anne of Cleves, fourth wife of Henry VIII

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 16th July 1557, forty-one-year-old Anne of Cleves, fourth wife of King Henry VIII, died at her home, Chelsea Old Manor. She’d been ill for a few months.

    Anne of Cleves was a warm and generous lady, something which is shown in her last wishes with the bequests to her household, friends and stepdaughters.

    Find out more about her bequests and her funeral arrangements in today’s talk.

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  • 30 June – A mortal head wound for a jousting King of France

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 30th June 1559, keen sportsman, King Henry II of France, suffered a mortal head wound while jousting. He died on 10th July and was succeeded by his son, Francis II.

    Jousting was a dangerous sport and Henry was fatally injured when splinters from his opponent’s lance entered his right eye. Awful!

    Find out more about Henry II’s accident and death, and also his reign, in today’s talk.

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  • 6 June – Trouble bews in Bodmin

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 6th June 1549, an army of rebels assembled at Bodmin in Cornwall, and there was a town meeting in which the rebels’ demands were put forward.

    What were these rebels rebelling against?

    The recent religious changes, particularly the new law concerning the Book of Common Prayer.

    Trouble ensued and their grievances became a full-blown rebellion, the Prayer Book Rebellion. You can find out what happened next and how the rebellion ended in today’s talk.

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  • 3 June – The Royal Supremacy

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 3rd June 1535, Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII’s vicar-general, issued orders regarding the royal supremacy to the bishops of the kingdom.

    But what was the royal supremacy and what were the clergy expected to do?

    Find out all about the royal supremacy, the orders sent and how bishops reacted, in today’s talk.

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  • 1 June – Christopher Marlowe’s death and inquest

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    1 Comment

    On this day in Tudor history, 1st June 1593, the inquest into the death of playwright, poet and translator Christopher Marlowe took place.

    Twenty-nine-year-old Marlowe, writer of such famous works as “Tamburlaine”, “Dr Faustus” and “The Jew of Malta”, had been fatally stabbed at a house in Deptford Strand, London, by a man named Ingram Frizer on 30th May 1593, but what happened?

    In today’s “on this day” talk, I share William Danby’s coroner’s report on what happened that fateful day.

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  • 23 May – Elizabeth the prisoner, “Much suspected by me, Nothing proved can be”

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 23rd May 1554, Elizabeth, daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, arrived at the Palace of Woodstock in Oxfordshire, where she was placed under house arrest.

    Elizabeth remained under house arrest there for just under a year, and she didn’t make it easy for her gaoler, Sir Henry Bedingfield, and neither did her servants.

    Find out why Elizabeth was under house arrest and what happened in today’s talk.

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  • 12 May – A very obstinate friar

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 12th May 1538, a Franciscan friar obstinately refused to make a public recantation of his allegiance to Rome.

    Friar John Forest had been condemned for heresy and was meant to abjure his faith at St Paul’s Cross, but he decided not to. Find out more about what happened:

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  • Tudor Letters

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    1 Comment

    In this week’s Claire Chats video, I talk about Tudor letters and share two of Elizabeth I’s letters, one from her youth and another from the last weeks of her life. Below my talk, you can find links to books of letters and archives where you can read Tudor letters. Enjoy!

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  • 5 May – Can’t kill him for heresy, let’s try treason…

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 5th May 1543, religious radical, Adam Damplip, also known as George Bucker, was hanged, drawn and quartered in Calais, which was an English territory at the time.

    Although it was his heretical preaching that had got him into trouble, he couldn’t be executed as a heretic, so he was condemned as a traitor instead – clever, but nasty!

    Let me explain more in today’s talk.

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  • 3 May – A man who served 3 monarchs and kept his head

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 3rd May 1568, courtier, member of Parliament, and privy councillor, Sir Edward Rogers, died.

    Rogers had a long and successful royal career, serving three of the Tudor monarchs, and he managed to keep his head too.

    Find out more about him, and how he even survived being implicated in rebellion and opposing Mary I, in today’s talk.

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  • 11 April – Victory for Anne Boleyn, finally!

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    1 Comment

    On this day in Tudor history, 11th April 1533, Good Friday, King Henry VIII informed his council that Anne Boleyn, the woman he’d married in January 1533, was his rightful wife and queen, and should be accorded royal honours.

    Finally, things were going right for the couple, who had been waiting for this moment since 1527.

    Find out more about what had led Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn to this point, and why they thought that the Great Matter would be sorted out much quicker, in today’s talk.

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  • 21 March – Elizabeth I takes to her bed

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 21st March 1603, a dying Queen Elizabeth I finally took to her bed.

    Elizabeth I had been queen since November 1558, but now she was dying. She had deep-rooted melancholy, couldn’t sleep and was refusing to eat. She spent her days lying on cushions in her withdrawing chamber. But on 21st March, she was finally persuaded to go to bed.

    Find out more about these last days in this talk.

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  • 15 March – Henry VIII uses foul language!

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 15th March 1532, King Henry VIII used what was described as “foul language” to William Warham, Archbishop of Canterburyt. Henry VIII also threatened the poor man, and it is amazing that Warham kept his head as the king was furious.

    What happened? Find out what Warham did to upset the king in today’s talk.

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  • 7 March – The Great Comet

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    This day in Tudor history, 7th March 1556, was one of the days on which the Great Comet, or the Comet of Charles V, was seen and recorded by Paul Fabricius, mathematician and physician at the court of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

    Find out all about the Great Comet of 1556, what it looked like and how Emperor Charles V saw it as an ominous portent in today’s talk.

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  • 14 February – Being a royal favourite doesn’t save you

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    1 Comment

    On this day in Tudor history, 14th February 1539, Sir Nicholas Carew, a royal favourite for over 20 years, was tried for treason after being implicated in the Exeter Conspiracy. Spoilers – his trial didn’t go well.

    But how did a man who’d been in royal favour for so long come to such a sticky end? Find out in today’s talk.

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  • 9 February – An awful end for a bishop

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    1 Comment

    Warning – Contains a description of a burning at the stake.

    On this day in history, 9th February 1555, Protestant John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester and Worcester, and former Cistercian monk, was burned at the stake for heresy in Gloucester.

    It was an awful execution due to green faggots being used, and John Foxe writes of there being three attempts over a period of 45 minutes. Awful, just awful.

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  • 27 January – The fate of the Gunpowder Plotters

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 27th January 1606, in the reign of King James I, the eight surviving conspirators of the November 1605 Gunpowder Plot were tried at Westminster for high treason.

    Why am I talking about something that happened during the reign of King James I, in the Stuart period? Well, because the Gunpowder Plot actually had its origins in Elizabeth I’s reign.

    Let me tell you more in today’s talk.

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  • 21 December – Jasper Tudor

    4 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 21st December 1495, Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford and 1st Earl of Pembroke, died at his manor at Thornbury at the age of around sixty-four.

    Jasper Tudor was the uncle of Henry Tudor, a man who would become King Henry VII, and served as a mentor and advisor to him.

    Find out more about this interesting Tudor man in today’s talk.

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  • 15 November – The pope threatens Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn

    5 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 15th November 1532, a rather cross Pope Clement VII threatened King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn with excommunication.

    Why? Well, because Henry VIII had defied the pope’s instructions and previous threats, and gone his own way, setting aside Catherine of Aragon and living with Anne Boleyn. The pope was not impressed with this disobedient king.

    In today’s talk,I share excerpts of the pope’s letter, along with an explanation of the context and what happened next.

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  • 6 November – Henry VIII abandons Catherine Howard

    5 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    2 Comments

    On this day in Tudor history, Sunday 6th November 1541, Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife, was abandoned by her husband the king at Hampton Court Palace. She would never see him again.

    On the same day, Queen Catherine was visited by a delegation of king’s council members and informed of allegations made against her.

    What exactly happened on this day in 1541 and what has this to do with Hampton Court Palace’s ‘Haunted Gallery’? Find out in today’s talk.

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  • 21 September – Robert Dudley’s secret marriage

    5 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    2 Comments

    On this day in Tudor history, Sunday 21st September 1578, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, married Lettice Dereveux (née Knollys) in a secret marriage at his house. So secret was it that he only told his chaplain and his friends the day before.

    Leicester was marrying the woman Elizabeth I had dubbed “the she-wolf”, so he knew that his queen would not be happy.

    In today’s talk, I give details of this secret wedding along with some facts about the bride, Lettice Knollys.

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  • 8 August – Elizabeth I accepts Robert Dudley’s invitation

    5 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    On this day in Tudor history, 8th August 1588, Queen Elizabeth I decided to accept Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester’s invitation to visit the troops he had gathered near Tilbury Fort to guard the eastern approach to London from the expected invasion by the Spanish Armada.

    In today’s “on this day in Tudor history” talk, I explain why Leicester invited his queen to visit the troops – there was more to it than just boosting morale.

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  • 16 July – Anne Askew’s courageous end

    5 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    3 Comments

    On this day in Tudor history, 16th July 1546, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Protestant martyrs Anne Askew, John Lascelles, John Adams and Nicholas Belenian were burned at the stake at Smithfield in London for heresy.

    Poor Anne had been illegally racked, so special provision had to be made for her execution.

    In today’s talk, I share an account of the ends of these courageous people, along with some trivia about one of them.

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  • 30 June – Henry VIII and Catherine Howard’s ill-fated northern progress

    5 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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    Things seemed all peachy as King Henry VIII and his fifth wife, Queen Catherine Howard, set off on their progress to the north of England on this day in Tudor history, 30th June 1541. Little did the king know that he’d be stood up by his nephew and that his world would come crashing down on him on his return.

    In today’s video, I explain the motives behind this huge undertaking, what happened on the progress, and why Henry’s life changed so dramatically when he got back.

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  • 9 June – The Book of Common Prayer

    5 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
    1 Comment

  • 19 May – Elizabeth I’s release from the Tower

    5 years ago Author: Claire Ridgway
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